


Like real people do

by heavenhux



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Armitage Hux Has Feelings, Company stuff, F/M, Misterious woman, Not Beta Read, Spy - Freeform, Stolen Data
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28484328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavenhux/pseuds/heavenhux
Summary: Armitage Hux found out Rose's secret, but - surprinsingly - he is willing to help her.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33
Collections: Gingerose Holiday Exchange 2020: Secret Spy





	Like real people do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PhelfromGrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhelfromGrace/gifts).



> So, this is my lil gift to @phelfromGrace for the GR exchange! Hope you enjoy it!

Armitage was always on time, never late, never early. So, arriving at the First Order Gala eight o’clock sharp, wasn’t really a surprise. On common nights, he would stay, talk to all the old men about business and conexions, drink an awful but expensive whiskey, and go home right after the three course meal dinner. 

But tonight wasn’t a common night. Tonight he asked the waiter a glass of wine, to keep his anxiety at bay. Pulling at his collar, he loosened his bow tie while trying to unsuspiciously look around.

 _She_ should be there already.

It was a series of unfortunate events that led Armitage to discover the truth about her. She’d been working for First Order for six months, as an I.T. intern. The night before, Armitage was having problems with calculations of profits and expenses, he had been noticing some weird unbalance on the company bank account. Working after hours, as always, he went up to Snoke’s office.

Snoke wasn’t there, but in the dark, Armitage saw a small but not discreet shadow. He turned on the lights, to see that tiny girl from I.T., big glasses above her nose, silky black hair all over the place in a messy bun, and the eyes of someone who was caught doing something they shouldn’t.

She was installing a spy program on his computer, she admitted.

That’s how he ended up crossing paths with a woman in a mission way bigger than his ambition for a good position in the First Order Inc. And of course, with her shiny dark eyes and smooth voice she had promised him everything he wanted, if he helped her get proof that Snoke’s been illegally diverting money from the company’s bank.

And with Snoke’s Holiday Gala, it was the perfect opportunity to get into his office and collect everything the spy program had registered.

But, she was twenty minutes late already.

“I’ll see you at the Gala,” she said that night, the smile and confidence of someone who never lost a negotiation in her life. Hux felt like she probably won a lot of trusting of others just with that smile, “I’ll blend well in the crowd.”

Hux gulped his wine faster than it was advised, staring at the Christmas decoration. He wondered if that was a tactic of Snoke to make himself look more human and less monster. As if every single person in that room didn’t know he was worth nothing.

Thinking better, Hux could’ve just told Snoke of the _spy_ . He could have just said everything about the I.T girl sneaking around his office and stealing data from his computer. But she had said to him that as soon as Snoke goes to jail, who will get the promotion to substitute him as CEO? _That_ was what got his full attention. Hux knew he was the most competent to take Snoke’s place. “The obvious choice”, she had said with a sweet and dangerous smile. And the fact that he dreamed about her all the following days had nothing to do with his decision to not turn her.

It’s a weird magnetism, he felt her presence in the room before he even saw her. His eyes roamed the place, until his eyes locked with hers. And he felt the air leaving his chest in one second. _Breathless_. He took her in exactly like a thirsty man who found an oasis in the desert. When she said she would blend in during the gala, he thought she would come disguised as one of the waitresses, or that she would linger in the dark corners to get to Snoke’s office again. He never expected her to come dressed in a crimson red flowy dress, surpassing every other woman in the gala. 

Chin up, she walked slowly to his direction, and during those mere seconds, he felt like a very lucky man with _her_ walking to him looking like a goddess. In the middle of her walk, she grabbed a champagne flute and absolutely owned the place.

As soon as she stopped right in front of him, a wave of her perfume inebriated his senses for a split second. She smiled, pretty lips painted red.

“What is the definition of _blending in_ , in your mind?”, he blurted out and her face fell a little, but she hid it very well. He could’ve started that conversation in a hundred different ways that weren’t so rude. But he hasn’t been feeling like himself lately.

“I’m disguised,” she said, behind a sip of her drink.

“Disguised in a _not-so-subtle_ red dress?”

“Yes, I am disguised as one of these trophy wives,” she discreetly gestured around, but she caught the frown on Armitage’s face, “what? You don’t think I’m pretty enough to look like one of them?”

Before Hux was able to answer he saw one of his annoying co-workers walking up to them. He quickly took the flute from her hand and left it on the first surface he reached. Holding her hand, he took a stunned Rose Jones to the dance floor. She was still shocked by his decision to _dance_ that he had to put her hands around his own neck.

“Will you stop looking at me like I just murdered your cat?” he asked, a funny half smile threatening to show up. Rose felt his hands holding lightly around her waist, like one of those awkward prom slow dances.

But then, something clicked the moment he started to move, leading her body around and making her look like a really good dancer. The moment she almost stumbled, he held her tighter, the warmth of his hand reached the skin under her dress, sending shivers up her spine. He inclined his head closer to her ear.

“You’re too smart,” he whispered so close to her ear that she could feel his breath. He saw her confused face, and added “to be a trophy wife.”

“Sometimes they’re the smartest,” she whispered back, looking at a wealthy couple a few feet away, the wife, subtly giving more and more glasses of whiskey to her very old husband, one of First Order’s accountants.

“Who are you?” Hux said, staring longingly into her eyes. He wanted to know everything about her, anything she was willing to tell and her darkest secrets. He wanted to know where she came from with the same desire he had to know her favorite color and her favorite sex position, “Your name isn’t Rose Jones, is it?”

“My name _is_ Rose,” it’s the only thing she answered. When she saw the intensity of his green eyes on hers, “we should go, before Snoke arrives”, she tried to end the dance, but he held her closer to his body and she melted in his arms.

“Please, Rose” Hux pleaded for something neither of them knew what it was. Her hands slid up to the hair in the back of his neck, caressing gently as she pressed her face against his chest, breathing in his perfume, his voice resonated inside her chest when he spoke again, “for a little longer, let me have this. Let me be the man, with a gorgeous date dressed in a pretty red dress.”

Hux didn’t care if he was sounding pathetic, during that moment, he was someone else, or just a better version of himself. Sometimes the loneliness of the path he chose for his life was overwhelming. And he spent so much time trying to be the person his father molded him to be, or trying to prove to himself that he’d be even better than Brendol ever was. Living to work was not a life, and Hux was starting to question if he made the right choice.

She felt his right hand moving up and down her back, slowly, instigating more shivers through her body. With her eyes closed, she could feel his chest moving up and down every breath he took. And for a brief moment, she imagined how that would feel if they were skin against skin.

“Let me be the guy with a beautiful woman, who would enjoy this night not because of this Gala. But who would enjoy this night because, after all this _shit show_ , he would go home with the most gorgeous woman here, to peel her dress off, slowly, and taste every inch of skin his lips could reach.”

She looked away, a light blush over her cheeks. The combination of his words and his voice, was making her feel things she hadn’t felt in years. But she quickly recovered her composure, paying attention around. Her eyes scanned the whole room, and she swore under her breath.

“Snoke is here,” Rose explained, suddenly angry. When Hux tried to stop their dance, she made him keep going, “look, all those guys splattered across the room are Snoke’s bodyguards.”

Spinning her smoothly, Hux checked the guys she was pointing at. They were very tall, and also very large, positioned in key spots around the party, and two were very close to Snoke, while he talked to some partner companies’ big shots.

“Are those bodyguards?” He asked, trying to count how many of them were there. From what he saw, at least eight men, “we should retrieve the data some other time. It’s dangerous to do it today.”

“We do not have the time, Hux. Tomorrow morning, Snoke will have his personal I.T. to run a monthly security check on his computer, and they’ll find the program I put there. I’ll not only lose everything my program collected, but they’ll also know they are being investigated.”

Hux stared at her. And he just didn’t understand why she would put herself in such a dangerous position. Why was she so engrossed in exposing Snoke’s dirty deals? And then, he saw that glimpse of pure hatred in her dark irises. He knew that look, because that’s what he saw in the mirror every time he had one of those huge fights with his father.

“It’s personal, isn’t it?” He simply said, eyeing her in a different light. Even if he didn’t know _why_ she hated Snoke, he knew what feeling that was like.

“It’s none of your business.”

She stopped their dancing, and held one of his hands, tugging him inside the building. Hux just went along with her, until they were inside the elevator. He just stared as she pressed the button to the highest floor. The CEO floor.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked as the small screen said they were passing the 15th floor. Suddenly, Rose punched one button and the elevator stopped with a halt.

“If you wanna leave, then go. I can do just fine on my own,” Rose pointed to the door.

Hux didn’t answer anything. He just stood very still inside the metal box, hoping his eyes could speak more than his mouth. But she was stubborn, that woman. In his mind, going with her was better than letting her go alone. So he just pushed the button and the elevator went up.

Felt like an eternity, the numbers changing on the screen.

“Tell me something about you no one knows,” she asked, looking into his eyes from the other side of the elevator.

“I have a cat. Her name is Millicent. What about you? Something no one else knows.”

“I traveled the world. It gives us different perspectives about life.”

Hux stayed silent. He never thought about traveling the world. His life was centered around work, and making a career and a name for himself. But that moment, picturing himself somewhere exotic, he thought that was a nice idea. And it had nothing to do with the fact that he pictured himself holding hands with a petite woman and her jet black hair shining under the sun, while traveling by her side.

He stared at Rose, and the look in her eyes told him that maybe – just maybe – she could be thinking the same.

“Hux,” she whispered, closing slowly the few steps that separated them. He felt her tiny hand above his chest, under his suit, “Sometimes I wish we were living a different life.”

He closed his eyes, resting his head back on the metal wall. The touch of her hand was so tender it was almost overwhelming. Made him think of where in his life he could be that second in another world.

“How would it be?” Hux asked, because he couldn’t help himself.

“We would meet on a saturday on the street, casually. I probably would just ask you about the weather or something.” He heard the smile on her voice. He could picture that, easily. “You would resist engaging in a conversation at first. But you would, eventually. Then I would invite you to a café, and we would talk for hours. And I’d let you walk me home later. You wouldn’t kiss me by the door, but I would give you my number and a peck on your cheek.”

Hux was picturing in his mind what would come next, when the elevator ring brought them back to reality and they were on the 35th floor. Rose took her hand off of him, and stepped back.

They walked silently to Snoke’s office.

“Can you guard the door while I get the data?”

At that point, Hux knew he would do anything she asked. So he just turned around and stood outside the door. The corridor was dark outside, the only light came from inside Snoke’s office, the computer screen.

Not even three minutes later, the elevator screen showed someone was coming up, from the first floor.

“Rose, someone is coming. Are you finished yet?” He told her, his adrenaline spiking and his heart beating faster each number the elevator showed.

“I’m at 56%.”

He gulped, eyes on the dark, looking for something they could use to protect themselves or a place they could hide. But that floor had only the elevator, the stairs for the emergency exit, and a rooftop with a view of the city under the building.

“Rose…”

He peeked inside the room and she was still looking at the screen.

“68%”

He stared nervously at the elevator screen, showing that whoever was inside, was on the 23th. The 24th, then 25th–

“83%” Rose warned him.

They wouldn’t make it. They would get caught. They would be ruined by Snoke. To rot behind the bars of a prison or to lose everything they have ever had. Snoke had that power.

When the elevator reached 32nd, he felt Rose’s hand holding his.

“I got it. Hux, let’s go.”

She pulled him to the emergency exit, but when they got closer, they heard footsteps coming from there. Wide eyed, Hux pulled Rose to the only other way, the rooftop.

They heard the elevator ding as they reached outside, the cold night embracing both of them.

“Armitage,” she whispered, calling him by his name for the first time, “kiss me.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. His lips crashed into hers, and he felt her hands circling his neck. He melts into her, holding the back of her head and pressing her against his body.

They heard the door to the rooftop slam open, and a flashlight was pointed to their direction.

“What’s going on here?” A voice they didn’t recognize said.

“My boyfriend was showing me the view,” Rose answers, faking a shyness.

“This is an unauthorized room, please come back to the party. Or we’ll have to escort you two out.” Finally adapted to the light focusing on them, Hux recognized the man as one of Snoke’s bodyguards.

“Sure,” Hux found his own voice again, “can we have a few minutes to um… Fix ourselves?”

The bodyguard coughed, noticing how Rose was hiding behind Hux, and their proximity. The man eyed them up and down, and left.

“Armitage,” Rose called, holding his hands “You have to go now.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll follow my way.”

Hux stared at her one last time, her dress flowing in the wind, her hair disheveled, and her cheeks in a lovely shade of pink. He couldn’t believe his own luck. The first time he really felt attracted to someone in years, the first time he could see himself in a different life with her, they had different paths in life. The first time he could allow himself to believe in faith, they had to part ways.

“Will I ever find you again?” He asked, feeling pathetic again. Because all he wanted to do was take her home. Her lips parted, as if she was surprised by his suggestion.

“No,” she breathed softly, then she fixed his hair back, and held his jaw, “I will find you.”

Then, Armitage left, because he knew she was telling the truth. When he met the bodyguards inside, they asked about her. When they went back to the rooftop to find Rose, she was gone.

It was the first day of the year, a saturday morning and Hux was sitting outside his apartment, contemplating small changes in his life the past few days. Snoke went to jail, the day after the gala. But Hux didn’t get his position as CEO, but he wasn’t upset because of it. Solo assumed the position, and was being really nice with him. He was thinking of a vacation, maybe travel to some different place.

The days passed really slow, like Hux had finally found something that was missing in his life, but had lost it really fast. A fierce and brave and gorgeous woman. Not any woman, but _her_. Rose, who sometimes he thought was just a delirium of his mind. 

“It’s kinda cold today, isn’t it?” He heard a voice, and raised his head to see his Rose right in front of him, like a daydream. She smiled when their eyes met.

“I think the sun just came out,” he answered, getting up. She was dressed simply in jeans and a wool sweater. No make up behind her glasses.

“I’m Rose. Nice to meet you” She shook his hand, firmly. “There’s a nice café down the street. Would you like to come?”

Hux stared at her, smiling out of joy and excitement. Maybe they didn’t need another world, when they still had this life and a lot of time to try.

“I’m Armitage. I would love to.”


End file.
